Avocado Tuna Cakes

Every January, I set ambitious goals for myself. I chase them in earnest for a few weeks. Then, before I even realize what’s happened, it’s March and many of my good intentions have evaporated beneath the pressures of everyday day life. This year, I’m trying a new tactic. At the end of each month, I’m taking five minutes to ask myself what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d like to stop, start, or continue doing the next month. On the list for what worked in January and will continue as long as I need to get dinner on the table: Avocado Tuna Cakes.

This post is sponsored by Chicken of the Sea.

Goals I set for myself in the kitchen this year include cutting down on our monthly grocery bill, going meatless twice per week, and eating seafood two to three times per week.

The meatless meal part has been easy—if you need some suggestions, you can check out the vegetarian section of my recipe index—but seafood portion has been harder, especially since I live in landlocked Wisconsin. Good-quality, fresh seafood, while it’s certainly available, is fairly expensive, and it still feels like more of a splurge versus something to be enjoyed several nights a week.

Then I remembered an important ingredient that was a staple in my pantry my first few years out of college—canned tuna.

I know what you are thinking: canned tuna? This is a food blog, and she is suggesting canned tuna? And the answer is yes. Yes, I absolutely am. Canned tuna is an incredibly easy, healthy, and budget-friendly way to enjoy seafood. It’s low in fat, high in protein, and, thanks to recipes like these Avocado Tuna Cakes, it’s delicious too!

Now, I will say that not all canned tuna is created equal. You want to look for tuna that’s meaty, comes in good-sized chunks, and that (despite being from a can) tastes relatively fresh. I’ve tried a few different brands, and I keep coming back to Chicken of the Sea. The tuna is good quality and affordable, and the brand even provides customers the ability to go online and trace the source and processing method of every can of tuna they buy.

If you feel hesitant about canned tuna, Avocado Tuna Cakes are a great place to start. They’re crispy on the outside, moist and creamy on the inside, and include plenty of fresh ingredients to keep them bright and light. Honestly, if I hadn’t told Ben that I’d used canned tuna in the recipe, I don’t think he even would have known.

And if you already regularly rely on canned tuna as a fast, healthy way to get your protein? You are going to love these baked tuna cakes too!

Avocado Tuna Cakes—A Nutritional Powerhouse

The combo of avocado and tuna provides double the source of Omega-3s (which are part of the reason the U.S. 2016 Dietary Guidelines advise Americans to eat two to three servings of seafood per week), and it makes the tuna cakes extra filling and juicy too. A splash of lime, handful of cilantro, and dash of hot sauce give the patties a zippy Southwest flair. Finally, because the tuna patties are baked, there is very little clean-up, AND the entire recipe can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. We have a keeper! (Not feeling tuna? Try this Salmon Patty Recipe!)

Ben had his tuna cakes burger-style on a pretzel bun topped with Greek yogurt and more avocado and salsa, while I preferred mine on top of greens. I warmed up the leftovers the next day with cheese. No matter how you enjoy them, these easy Avocado Tuna Cakes are a simple, tasty way to introduce more seafood into your diet—and to land a healthy meal on the table more quickly tonight.

Two things:

A shout-out to my Nourished Planner, which gave me the idea to reflect on what should stop, start, or continue each month. I never knew I could be this much of a planner super fan, but here I am.

Enter to win a $100 Visa Gift Card from Chicken of the Sea. Details below the recipe. Good luck!

Giveaway ended. Congrats to the winner and thank you to all who entered!

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, lightly mash the avocado. Add the tuna, bread crumbs, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic powder, salt, and egg. Mix until the ingredients are fairly well combined. (It's ok if the mixture is a little clumpy.)

Form into 6 patties, then arrange the patties on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, then continue baking until the outsides are lightly crisp and the cakes are cooked through, about 10 additional minutes. Enjoy warm.

Recipe Notes

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat.

If you'd like to make the recipe gluten free, use gluten-free bread crumbs. You could also swap ground gluten-free rolled oats. (I haven't tried either, but I think both would work nicely.)

From now until March 15, Chicken of the Sea is giving away ten $100 Visa gift cards every single week! They’ll be sharing virtual cards with healthy tips and tricks, plus recipe suggestions on their social media. For a chance to win, join the conversation by sharing your own ideas, tips, and inspiration. You can enter the contest via digital form on Chicken of the Sea’s website or Facebook page, or use the hashtag #EatMoreSeafood on Twitter or Instagram. Your suggestions will be used to make future cards and the grand prize winners will receive Chicken of the Sea seafood for a year. You can find more details here.

I am an official ambassador for Chicken of the Sea. Chicken of the Sea provided me with EZ-Open cans for the purpose of this post, as well as compensation for my time. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Hi Heather, I haven’t tried freezing them myself, but if you would like to try, I’d recommend cooking them first and then freezing. Then thaw in the microwave or fridge and reheat on the stovetop or in the oven! I hope you enjoy!

These look and sound delicious! Canned tuna, sardines, and salmon are my go-to pantry staples to help provide Matt and myself with more seafood in our weekly meal plans. I already have gluten free breadcrumbs to use too. :)

These look incredible! I will have to try making them fresh, but I’m interested in freezing because I need to have a lot of low-prep meals available over the next couple of months. Would you recommend cooking before freezing or freezing the patties and cooking after thawing?

Hi Rebekah, I haven’t tried freezing them myself, but if you would like to try, I’d recommend cooking them first and then freezing. Then thaw in the microwave or fridge and reheat on the stovetop or in the oven! I hope you enjoy!

It is summer here in Nth Qld Australia. These will be a light and tasty meal which wont be a chore to cook up in our hot hot hot weather. Also..my avocado tree is full of fruit so these will be popular. We don’t have that brand of tuna so will use John West or Saffcol Thankyou so much..just love your recipes?

Just made them with a few modifications because I didn’t have coriander so used parsley and replaced red onion with white and lime juice with lemon. Delicious! The nutrition info you put is way out though. 6 grams of protein only per cake and 80 something calories. I checked and it’s more like 18 grams protein and 211 calories per cake. Thanks for the recipe, it’s a good one to play around with and tuna is definitely an awesome source of protein and omega3s

Hi! Although some variation is normal, that is definitely a big swing! Were you using My Fitness Pal for your calculation? I doubled checked, and in this case, My Fitness Pal was only pulling 1 can of tuna instead of 2, which definitely throws things off! I updated the nutrition info to the correct 102 calories and 10g of protein per cake. Often, if you just plug in the recipe link, the ingredients that the program uses to calculate the nutrition facts by default are incorrect. I usually try to eyeball them to make sure that they are close and make a substitution if they’re not. This is why it’s important to remember that nutrition information is meant to be a guide versus 100% accurate (you can read more about this in my FAQs).

Regardless, I’m so happy that you love the recipe! Thanks for trying it out and letting me know.

I used caloriecount.com. Funny thing is I’m not even a calorie counter but just wanted to check because I thought 6 grams protein per cake was such a small amount t for something like tuna which is rich in protein. Thanks again

Hi Aline, you’d be experimenting since I’ve never made the recipe without avocado, and it does bind the cakes somewhat, but I think you could just leave it out and have a smaller yield. If the mixture is too dry and not holding together, you could add an egg white or a few tablespoons of milk or water. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!

My three-year old who loves burgers, didn’t bat an eye when I served him this burger (with cheese). He ate almost the whole thing and it’s a battle getting him to eat seafood of any kind. HUGE WIN! Thanks Erin :)

I loved this recipe! I look forward to any other recipes you post with canned tuna, since it is so affordable and is usually in my pantry :). In particular, I really appreciated this recipe today because I had a rough day and was TOTALLY considering just hitting the couch with some tortilla chips for “dinner”….but this recipe was so approachable and quick that I made this instead (and of course, feel way better all around for nourishing myself with good food). So it was a lesson in self-care AND a great weeknight recipe for the future….win win! Thanks so much :)

These look great and I’ve got them on the menu for lunch later this week, I just have a quick question. I already have Panko in my pantry, do you think that would work instead of the whole wheat bread crumbs if I just up the seasonings a bit?

Love making this! I get super nervous trying new things! With the diet i have just began I’ve decided to go on the search for fun health recipes and this one was a great one to add! I’ve passed it a long to a few people as well!

Hi Bobby, I’m sorry to hear that the tuna cakes didn’t turn out as expected! It could be that the tuna was still a little too wet after draining. Thanks for giving the recipe a try, and I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor!

Just tried these tonight, Etin..they’re awesome! At first I thought..tuna and avocado paired? – okaay. But it really works! I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been having a little trouble with my oven or what but mine did not look like yours in the picture. They steamed a lot but they didn’t get very crispy. So, I transferred them to a pan and crisped them up in a bit of olive oil. Voila!

We served them on toasted buns and mixed sour cream and sriracha for the topping. Absolutely delish. Definitely one recipe we’ll be making again!

Hi Marianne, I have only tried pork rinds once or twice, but since they are pretty oily and not dry like bread crumbs, I’m not positive that would work, and I would imagine they’d change the final flavor too. If you want to experiment, I’d love to hear how it comes out!

I had to make a few adjustments just due to deciding to make it last-minute and not having a few ingredients but they turned out really well. It was a fast and easy tuna burger that I will definitely make again.

This was AMAZING! No cilantro for me–I had to use a bit of Panko- and I also had to fry them slowly in a pan (oven is acting stupid)–I would have never thought of combining this together. Again, amazing! Thank you!!!

These tuna cakes are very easy to make and packs in a lot of flavor! I have made these with/without avocado for my boyfriend who is allergic and both versions tasted great. I subbed an extra egg for the avocado-less version. I packed these babies for lunch at the beach one day and had my friends try them. They were so good that one of my friends had me make them for him. After learning to make it himself, he made these all week for his meal prep!